OTTAWA—Canada threw its full support behind Libya’s armed rebellion Monday, warning that leaders who deny democracy and attack their citizens will be overwhelmed.

“Leaders who try to defy or repress this tide, like (Moammar) Gadhafi or the leadership in Iran, will eventually be overwhelmed,” Cannon said in an address to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

But in Tripoli, Gadhafi told western reporters there was no rebellion. He rejected calls for him to step down and dismissed the strength of the uprising against his 41-year dictatorship.

“All my people love me. They would die to protect me,” he told the BBC and the American network ABC during the interview at a restaurant on the Mediterranean coast.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Gadhafi was “delusional,” and unfit to lead.

Rice said the U.S. is reaching out to opposition groups in Libya, but it is “premature” to discuss military assistance. Her comments came as the U.S. said it was moving warships and air forces closer to Libya.

In his address to the rights council, Cannon also said Gadhafi should be brought before the International Criminal Court to answer for attacks on his own people.

“We would obviously be in . . . total agreement with any resolution that came forward that would bring Gadhafi to the authority of the international court,” Cannon said.

The tone of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government in dealing with the uprising in Libya stands in stark contrast to its somewhat reluctant embrace of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square less than a month ago.

Now the Harper government boasts that it is among the first nations to have imposed sanctions against Gadhafi, his family and regime. Government House leader John Baird, while speaking to reporters Monday about the measures Canada was implementing, spoke openly of “regime change” to end Gadhafi’s 41-year rule.

Harper and President Barack Obama spoke Monday and have agreed to work together to promote democracy in Libya.

The Prime Minister’s Office says the two leaders discussed the need for co-ordinated international humanitarian aid for people fleeing the violence in Libya, as well as other developments in the Middle East and North Africa.

Ottawa sent a 13-member military team to Malta Monday along with two C-130J cargo planes and two C-17 transport planes. The contingent is accompanied by nine combat medics. The defence department would not comment on reports that special forces troops also were en route.

The aircraft will be used to better coordinate the remaining evacuations of Canadians and foreigners from Libya, the government said. About 150 Canadian remain in the country.

A C-17 transport made one such run Monday morning, landing at an oilfield southwest of Tripoli, government officials said. The flight picked up one Canadian as well as German, Vietnamese, Filipino and Thai citizens and flew them in Malta. Another 33 Canadians were evacuated aboard the British military ship, HMS Cumberland

In other developments Monday:

• Forces loyal to Gadhafi massed outside two rebel-held coastal cities, and late Monday fighting was reported in one of them.

• The government dispersed a protest in Tripoli with gunfire. There were conflicting reports about casualties.

• Fighting broke in Misurata, 200 kilometres east of Tripoli, when residents fired at a helicopter that was trying to destroy the antenna of the local radio station.

The Libyan embassy in Ottawa denounced the violence by Gadhafi, and says it no longer speaks for the government.

While Canada’s economic sanctions are tough — they include a freeze on financial transactions after a Canadian bank noticed the Libyan government’s plan to withdraw a huge sum of money — it looks as though other nations will be the ones to tighten the noose on the Libyan government. The U.S. said it had blocked Libyan access to $30 billion in assets.

France said Monday that it was sending two airplanes loaded with doctors, nurses, medicine and other equipment to Benghazi, the opposition’s seat of power, to help and care for the sick and injured. It is a bold violation of Libya’s sovereignty, which countries have so far ignored in efforts to remove their stranded citizens.

French Prime Minister François Fillion signalled that Gadhafi should expect such broaches of the nation he has ruled since 1969 to become common place. The medical aid mission would become a “massive operation” of humanitarian support to Libyans now threatened by Gadhafi’s regime.

In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had ordered the country’s military leaders to examine how to set up and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent the country’s air force from firing on rebels. Any such operation would need the blessing of the United Nations and would likely be operated under the banner of NATO, the western military alliance.

Cannon did say that Canada was “supportive” of the French humanitarian relief flights and would be “prepared to give a hand” but not quite yet.

“As the days go forward we’ll be in a better position to appreciate the different options that are there as they’re being more refined,” he said.

With files from Star wire services

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